US President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 29, 2019. PHOTO: AFP
Haitao Xiang was arrested in June 2017 at an airport with a one-way ticket to China and in possession of software developed by the American agribusiness giant to help farmers improve crop yields, the Department of Justice said on Thursday in a statement.
The 42-year-old had worked at Monsanto and its subsidiary The Climate Corporation for nearly 10 years.
The indictment alleges another instance of the Chinese government encouraging "employees to steal intellectual property from their US employers", Assistant Attorney General John Demers said.
Xiang faces up to 15 years in jail and a $5 million fine for each of the three counts of espionage against him, along with hefty jail terms and fines for three counts of theft of trade secrets.
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